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White Sox return to Central play after lengthy break

White Sox return to Central play after lengthy break

6/17/13: Paul Konerko grounds a single to short to bring home Alejandro De Aza, putting the White Sox on the board in the top of the sixth

By Kelly Erickson
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MLB.com |

MINNEAPOLIS -- After over a month playing outside of the American League Central, the White Sox returned to division play Tuesday against the Twins.

The last division series Chicago played in was at Target Field from May 13-15, where the club took two out of three from Minnesota to win the series.

"You get back here and they're familiar with you, you're familiar with them," Sox manager Robin Ventura said of facing the Twins.

Coming into the series, Chicago sat last in the division, 9 1/2 games out of first. The Twins were ahead of the White Sox by a 1 1/2-game margin. With just over a month-long break from division play, this series marks the first time the struggling White Sox have an opportunity to make up some quick ground in the standings.

While that may be on both the White Sox and Twins' minds, Ventura said he's just glad they're playing.

"You can have a mindset of you feel like you're chipping away, but right now we'd take anybody," Ventura said. "At the end, it's one of those that's in your division, which is nice, because it's immediate when you win and you can catch somebody."

Kelly Erickson is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.